# St Michael Fighting Demons

[View the canonical artwork record](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/master-of-the-legend-of-saint-ursula-i-r443098c6753a7c/st-michael-fighting-demons-r89de93ef4ed856>)

## Artwork

- Artist: [MASTER of the Legend of Saint Ursula \(I\)](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/master-of-the-legend-of-saint-ursula-i-r443098c6753a7c>)
- Date: 1451-1500
- Technique: Oil on oak panel with integrated frame, 30 x 19,5 cm

## Commentary

St Michael does not occupy the highest rank in the angelic choir. In the celestial household, however, as one of the seven archangels, he is the leader of the army of angels fighting the demons. In popular imagination it is his army that scatters and chases into outer darkness the rebellious angels who choose to obey Satan rather than God. Here he is not portrayed as a knight in arms but as a fighting priest in clerical attire. The type may go back to an older representation by Jan van Eyck on which Gerard David later based his St Michael altarpiece in Vienna. The Eyckian shape of the shield could also point this way. At his side kneels a nun of the Potterie convent in Bruges, in the habit of an augustine nun.

## Related artworks

- [Angels Supporting the Veil of St Veronica](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/master-of-the-legend-of-saint-ursula-i-r443098c6753a7c/angels-supporting-the-veil-of-st-veronica-r4fa06871c8ee43>)
- [Diptych with the Virgin and Child and Three Donors](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/master-of-the-legend-of-saint-ursula-i-r443098c6753a7c/diptych-with-the-virgin-and-child-and-three-donors-r02967f86c42487>)
- [Head of Christ](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/master-of-the-legend-of-saint-ursula-i-r443098c6753a7c/head-of-christ-r81ea2391c4cde0>)
- [Legend of St Ursula \(closed\)](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/master-of-the-legend-of-saint-ursula-i-r443098c6753a7c/legend-of-st-ursula-closed-re443f5c3bff29f>)
- [Legend of St Ursula, the Church and the Synagogue](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/master-of-the-legend-of-saint-ursula-i-r443098c6753a7c/legend-of-st-ursula-the-church-and-the-synagogue-r8b6c01765cef05>)
- [Portrait of a Lady with a Carnation](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/master-of-the-legend-of-saint-ursula-i-r443098c6753a7c/portrait-of-a-lady-with-a-carnation-r1d9f3390c7b734>)
- [Portrait of Ludovico Portinari](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/master-of-the-legend-of-saint-ursula-i-r443098c6753a7c/portrait-of-ludovico-portinari-r958941e60a4857>)
- [Scenes from the Life of St Ursula \(detail\)](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/master-of-the-legend-of-saint-ursula-i-r443098c6753a7c/scenes-from-the-life-of-st-ursula-detail-r02af529ae9b750>)
- [St Veronica with the Sudarium](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/master-of-the-legend-of-saint-ursula-i-r443098c6753a7c/st-veronica-with-the-sudarium-r0fa91db0c3a5d9>)
- [The Martyrdom of St. Ursula and the 11,000 Virgins](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/master-of-the-legend-of-saint-ursula-i-r443098c6753a7c/the-martyrdom-of-st-ursula-and-the-11000-virgins-r164d41e25d1e83>)
- [Triptych of the Annunciation \(detail\)](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/master-of-the-legend-of-saint-ursula-i-r443098c6753a7c/triptych-of-the-annunciation-detail-r3a12758bedfcc4>)
- [Triptych of the Annunciation \(detail\)](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/master-of-the-legend-of-saint-ursula-i-r443098c6753a7c/triptych-of-the-annunciation-detail-r53893802036b49>)

## Attribution

[Web Gallery of Art](<https://beta.wga.hu/pages/about>)